1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a method for handling printed products by making an edge cut with the aid of a cutter, for which the printed products are fed to grippers that circulate with a first conveying loop and are spaced apart by maintaining a mutual distance, and which pick up the printed products by one edge and carry them along the first conveying loop, as well as an arrangement that can be used for implementing this method.
2. Description of the Related Art
With known methods of this type, as described for example in the CH-PS-668 216, the printed products are released for making the cut from the grippers circulating with the first conveying loop and are thus thrown from above into hoppers that are open on the top and are fixed to an endlessly circulating, driven traction element. They are subsequently moved perpendicular to the drive direction inside the hoppers so that the edges can be cut, whereupon the thus aligned printed products are cut by cutting blades that are installed fixedly and are coordinated in pairs on a second endlessly circulating, driven traction element, for which one of the belts runs parallel to a segment of the first traction element. The printed products are subsequently gripped by the grippers of a discharge conveyor that circulate at a mutual distance to each other and are thus taken from the hoppers and discharged.
In order to ensure a reliable operation of an arrangement used for implementing such a method, the conveying speeds of the feed conveyor and the discharge conveyor must be matched exactly to the circulating speed of the hoppers. Furthermore, it is necessary to exactly match the rotation of the coordinated pairs of cutting blades to the rotation of the hoppers. In particular, the rotation of the cutting blades and that of the hoppers must be synchronized precisely not only with respect to the circulating speed, but also with respect to the circulating phase, because an insufficient phasing can already result in a displacement of the printed products in the hoppers that obstructs the further operation if one of the paired, coordinated cutting blades starts cutting the printed product too early, that is before the respective counter blade has been placed against it.
In view of the above described problems with the Prior Art, it is the object of the invention to make available a method for handling printed products that permits making a reliable edge cut as well as an arrangement for implementing such a method.